*Membership spots not really limited!

Rain Partier

Another new Image series debuts! It's about a homeless kid on the streets of San Francisco joining a school for assassins in 1987. Y'know, pretty normal kid stuff.

Deadly Class is a new series joining the slew of other titles Image is delivering these days. It’s written by none other than Rick Remender, who wrote a little something called Fear Agent, had a masterful run on Uncanny X-Force, and is currently writing Black Science (which is already off to a stellar fucking start might I add). Remender’s track record is pretty damn good lately, so I walked into Deadly Class with some pretty high expectations.

Now, the first thing you’re going to notice about this book, if you’re familiar with current authors, is Remender’s name, but when you crack it open, you’re immediately drawn to the art from Wes Craig, and even more to the color work done by Lee Loughridge. Each page is primarily dominated by different hues of a specific color, whether it be the reds of violent memories, the muted blues and purples of being down on your luck, or oranges and yellows for fast paced action. Not only are these colors dominating to the story, but they really help cement the time period of 1987. A quick glance through the pages is refreshing due to the coloring alone.

Let me go ahead and say the first part of the issue seems a little bland. Marcus Lopez, the main character, is living on the streets of San Francisco as a homeless kid, and while I understand the importance of showing how desolate he is, the pace of the story drags a bit in the beginning. With that being said, this issue picks up very quickly halfway through and shows a lot of promise. Remender does a nice job of developing character personalities quickly upon meeting them. Once Marcus has eluded the police, he meets some of the other students very briefly, and their dialogue is very witty and snarky. The characters are all very sharp, something you might expect from young assassins. The last part of the issue is a solid cliffhanger, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next issue to see where it goes.

Deadly Class has a good foothold with its first issue. It’s a little slow to start, but once it does, it puts the pedal to the metal, quickly increasing the pace of the story and introducing characters I’m very eager to learn more about. Marcus is solid as a main character, but I think what’s really going to shine in this series is the supporting cast around him. Remender has piqued my interest and I feel like this book is only going to get better.

Rain Partier

Another new Image series debuts! It's about a homeless kid on the streets of San Francisco joining a school for assassins in 1987. Y'know, pretty normal kid stuff.

Deadly Class is a new series joining the slew of other titles Image is delivering these days. It’s written by none other than Rick Remender, who wrote a little something called Fear Agent, had a masterful run on Uncanny X-Force, and is currently writing Black Science (which is already off to a stellar fucking start might I add). Remender’s track record is pretty damn good lately, so I walked into Deadly Class with some pretty high expectations.

Now, the first thing you’re going to notice about this book, if you’re familiar with current authors, is Remender’s name, but when you crack it open, you’re immediately drawn to the art from Wes Craig, and even more to the color work done by Lee Loughridge. Each page is primarily dominated by different hues of a specific color, whether it be the reds of violent memories, the muted blues and purples of being down on your luck, or oranges and yellows for fast paced action. Not only are these colors dominating to the story, but they really help cement the time period of 1987. A quick glance through the pages is refreshing due to the coloring alone.

Let me go ahead and say the first part of the issue seems a little bland. Marcus Lopez, the main character, is living on the streets of San Francisco as a homeless kid, and while I understand the importance of showing how desolate he is, the pace of the story drags a bit in the beginning. With that being said, this issue picks up very quickly halfway through and shows a lot of promise. Remender does a nice job of developing character personalities quickly upon meeting them. Once Marcus has eluded the police, he meets some of the other students very briefly, and their dialogue is very witty and snarky. The characters are all very sharp, something you might expect from young assassins. The last part of the issue is a solid cliffhanger, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next issue to see where it goes.

Deadly Class has a good foothold with its first issue. It’s a little slow to start, but once it does, it puts the pedal to the metal, quickly increasing the pace of the story and introducing characters I’m very eager to learn more about. Marcus is solid as a main character, but I think what’s really going to shine in this series is the supporting cast around him. Remender has piqued my interest and I feel like this book is only going to get better.

Staff Writer

Another week, another exceptional debut issue from Image Comics. They really are taking the piss now aren’t they? Deadly Class is actually quite a hard comic to describe at this point, but with this first issue, Rick Remender and Wes Craig have already hooked me in with a unique tone of voice, fantastic art and a variety off characters who, even if they aren’t actually interesting just yet, at least look interesting and hold a lot of promise. This is a vibrant, angry first issue that demonstrates all that’s good about comics and about being young and screwed over.

The story here takes place in 1987, during the Reagan era and a famous Stock Market Crash. The parallels between that time and now are obvious really, and it allows Remender to comment on the current fucked-up state of the world, but from a safer distance that should hopefully help him avoid controversy (but then as we’ve seen in Uncanny Avengers, Remender seems to court controversy without even really doing anything). Plus, this time period allows Remender to reflect the music and different youth subcultures of the time, which do seem purer. In the 1980s, hardcore punks could actually be hardcore, now, they’re just on the internet and in Starbucks like everyone else. Rebellion has been commoditized now, but in the 80s, there was still some left.

The main character in this issue is Marcus, a homeless 14 year old with a mysterious secret in his past. His parents moved to the USA from Nicaragua after his dad helped out the CIA, and it looks like this has something to do with his being homeless, as his parents are dead. Marcus himself may have killed someone too, as he is on the run. Marcus’ inner voice from Remender is constant and very well-written, and you really feel like you’re inside his head. Remender used this same technique in #1 of Black Science, but I feel it works better here. The opening half of the issue sees Marcus struggle on the streets of San Francisco, with people not wanting to give him change, and the Reaganite philosophy basically fucking him over. In a cool twist, he actually shares a Birthday with big Ronald. Marcus flashes back to an unfortunate memory from his childhood, where we see how his parents died, when crazy woman (who had been let out of an Asylum due to Reagan’s budget cuts) jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, and land right on top of his parents crushing them, which is just fucked-up, but other than that, the rest of his past remains a tantalising mystery.

In what turns out to be a pivotal moment, Marcus shows mercy to an old homeless man who steals his shoes, and throughout all of this, Marcus has the strange feeling that he’s being watched. At his wit’s end, Marcus goes up to the Golden Gate himself, ready to commit suicide, but he is pulled back, both by the memory of his father, and also by the words of a mysterious girl.

The story really kicks into high gear when Marcus attends a Day Of The Dead celebration, where he spots the same mysterious girl and tries to chase after here. It’s here that the Police converge on Marcus, trying to bring him in for some crime, probably murder. The girl, and a bunch of other teenagers help Marcus escape, and we get a fantastic chase and action scene, with the girl helping Marcus to escape the Cops, who aren’t out to arrest, but to kill. Wes Craig’s art is amazing here, and throughout the issue in fact. I’ve been a fan of Craig’s since his work on Guardians Of The Galaxy, but here, he’s really cutting loose with some fantastic designs and layouts. This comic just looks cool, which is very important when the story is so youth-orientated. Colourist Lee Loughridge also plays a huge part in how good this comic looks, as he uses a variety of techniques. Some pages are coloured ‘normally’, but on others, he allows one colour to dominate, so everything is hued purple or red. It’s hard to describe in words, but it looks great.

The mysterious girl (her name is Saya) saves Marcus, and even kills a Cop to do so. Marcus is taken away, and it is revealed to him by the rest of his teenaged protectors (we don’t know much about any of them yet, other than names, but each has a distinctive look, and I’m excited to find out more about them) and by Master Lin, an old Asian man, that the reason they have been watching him is because they want to recruit him to join them, and be trained to become one of the world’s greatest assassins. Yep, assassins. Marcus is understandably wary of this, and he initially refuses, but thanks to Saya, he is turned around, and agrees to become a student at the ‘Kings Dominion School Of The Deadly Arts’.

This was a great opening issue, it was stylish, the characterisation of Marcus was solid, and now that the set-up is out of the way, I can’t wait for the real craziness to begin. If you’re looking for a comic that’s like nothing else out there, then look no further than Deadly Class.

Staff Writer

Another week, another exceptional debut issue from Image Comics. They really are taking the piss now aren’t they? Deadly Class is actually quite a hard comic to describe at this point, but with this first issue, Rick Remender and Wes Craig have already hooked me in with a unique tone of voice, fantastic art and a variety off characters who, even if they aren’t actually interesting just yet, at least look interesting and hold a lot of promise. This is a vibrant, angry first issue that demonstrates all that’s good about comics and about being young and screwed over.

The story here takes place in 1987, during the Reagan era and a famous Stock Market Crash. The parallels between that time and now are obvious really, and it allows Remender to comment on the current fucked-up state of the world, but from a safer distance that should hopefully help him avoid controversy (but then as we’ve seen in Uncanny Avengers, Remender seems to court controversy without even really doing anything). Plus, this time period allows Remender to reflect the music and different youth subcultures of the time, which do seem purer. In the 1980s, hardcore punks could actually be hardcore, now, they’re just on the internet and in Starbucks like everyone else. Rebellion has been commoditized now, but in the 80s, there was still some left.

The main character in this issue is Marcus, a homeless 14 year old with a mysterious secret in his past. His parents moved to the USA from Nicaragua after his dad helped out the CIA, and it looks like this has something to do with his being homeless, as his parents are dead. Marcus himself may have killed someone too, as he is on the run. Marcus’ inner voice from Remender is constant and very well-written, and you really feel like you’re inside his head. Remender used this same technique in #1 of Black Science, but I feel it works better here. The opening half of the issue sees Marcus struggle on the streets of San Francisco, with people not wanting to give him change, and the Reaganite philosophy basically fucking him over. In a cool twist, he actually shares a Birthday with big Ronald. Marcus flashes back to an unfortunate memory from his childhood, where we see how his parents died, when crazy woman (who had been let out of an Asylum due to Reagan’s budget cuts) jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, and land right on top of his parents crushing them, which is just fucked-up, but other than that, the rest of his past remains a tantalising mystery.

In what turns out to be a pivotal moment, Marcus shows mercy to an old homeless man who steals his shoes, and throughout all of this, Marcus has the strange feeling that he’s being watched. At his wit’s end, Marcus goes up to the Golden Gate himself, ready to commit suicide, but he is pulled back, both by the memory of his father, and also by the words of a mysterious girl.

The story really kicks into high gear when Marcus attends a Day Of The Dead celebration, where he spots the same mysterious girl and tries to chase after here. It’s here that the Police converge on Marcus, trying to bring him in for some crime, probably murder. The girl, and a bunch of other teenagers help Marcus escape, and we get a fantastic chase and action scene, with the girl helping Marcus to escape the Cops, who aren’t out to arrest, but to kill. Wes Craig’s art is amazing here, and throughout the issue in fact. I’ve been a fan of Craig’s since his work on Guardians Of The Galaxy, but here, he’s really cutting loose with some fantastic designs and layouts. This comic just looks cool, which is very important when the story is so youth-orientated. Colourist Lee Loughridge also plays a huge part in how good this comic looks, as he uses a variety of techniques. Some pages are coloured ‘normally’, but on others, he allows one colour to dominate, so everything is hued purple or red. It’s hard to describe in words, but it looks great.

The mysterious girl (her name is Saya) saves Marcus, and even kills a Cop to do so. Marcus is taken away, and it is revealed to him by the rest of his teenaged protectors (we don’t know much about any of them yet, other than names, but each has a distinctive look, and I’m excited to find out more about them) and by Master Lin, an old Asian man, that the reason they have been watching him is because they want to recruit him to join them, and be trained to become one of the world’s greatest assassins. Yep, assassins. Marcus is understandably wary of this, and he initially refuses, but thanks to Saya, he is turned around, and agrees to become a student at the ‘Kings Dominion School Of The Deadly Arts’.

This was a great opening issue, it was stylish, the characterisation of Marcus was solid, and now that the set-up is out of the way, I can’t wait for the real craziness to begin. If you’re looking for a comic that’s like nothing else out there, then look no further than Deadly Class.